Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

OPINION

Mail: Kneeling during National Anthem

The Town Talk
Published 11:05 p.m. CT Sept. 25, 2017

CLOSE

SportsPulse: NFL insider Jarrett Bell on how the football world responded to President Trump's comments on national anthem protests, as well as how Week 3 of the season was full of upsets and wild finishes.
USA TODAY Sports

A recent and seemingly running controversy came out of professional football players kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. Their supporters contend they have every right to protest whatever they want. We all know that their actions are all covered by the First Amendment.

However, anyone who questions their patriotism is castigated severely. One can not overlook the fact that those professional players live in a society which permits them to garner tens of millions of dollars. They would not find the same opportunities anywhere else on the face of the earth. They seem to have some personal axes to grind, but they are protesting the very things that the flag has enabled them to be where they are today. Millions have fought and died, and many are living today with wounds to protect the rights they have today. Their current stance is hardly a gesture of gratitude to those who sacrificed so much.

In addition to the protesting, they have now made a racial issue out of something which is in no way racial. While they claim First Amendment rights to protest, they want to deny anyone who does not support their stance the right to say anything which is an opposite view. This is hypocrisy at its best.

Now their supporters are castigating the owners who do not want to hire damaged goods. No law is being broken when team owners refuse to hire them. That can not be claimed as a racial issue. This will end at the ticket window when patrons no longer buy ticket to see them play.

Unfortunately we live in a society in which protesters flip out the race card, especially when their protesting is not gaining traction. How those who claim racial disparity can do so when approximately 70 percent of professional sports is dominated by African Americans is a mystery. They should not be disrespecting the flag under which they are doing very well. It would be a stretch to blame the flag for unemployment, for the disintegration of the family, for lack of education, and for crime in the streets, They seem to have not learned that the freedoms we enjoy here are only dreams of people in most of the world today.

Francis Elliott

Pineville

Read or Share this story: http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/opinion/2017/09/26/mail-kneeling-during-national-anthem/700529001/